1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a valve, particularly a vapor valve, having a housing into which an intake connecting piece, an outlet connecting piece, and a pressure relief outlet discharge, having a spherical closing part, mounted so it is rotationally movable, which is movable by a hand lever, the outlet connecting piece being connected to the pressure relief outlet in the closed position (closed setting).
2. Description of the Related Art
Such valves, also referred to as “vapor cocks”, are particularly used by the chemical industry and are known and available in many embodiments. Although the embodiments having pressure relief already represent a refinement in that the residual vapor pressure still remaining in the line after the main passage is closed may escape, this technical embodiment has the disadvantage that condensate and/or water still remaining in the lines must be removed, which is cumbersome. For this purpose, it is necessary, for example, to blow compressed air into the line through an additional cock in order to remove the condensate or water from the line, which is free of vapor pressure. Especially in the winter months, the lines may be clogged through ice formation of the condensate and/or water, so that there is a need for improvement here.
A known ball valve is described in DE 202 09 195 U1. The known ball valve has a housing, accommodating an essentially spherical valve body, in which a passage running in a straight line between two coaxially positioned connections is provided, which may be opened in a first setting of the valve body and may be closed in a second setting of the valve body. In this known valve, a hinge pin, which is movable in a radially elastic way, is fixed to a joint part using a locking pin, so that the catch device may no longer move radially inward. The known achievement of the object does describe a simple valve which may be produced cost-effectively, but in this case as well, the condensate and/or water still remaining in the lines must be removed, with corresponding complexity.